Nigerian Man Sentenced to 11 Years in Ireland for Forcing Ex-Partner to Take Abortion Pills on Valentine’s Day

By Micheal Chukwuebuka

Adeleke Adelani, a Nigerian living in Ireland, has been sentenced to over 11 years in prison for forcing his pregnant former partner to take abortion pills on Valentine’s Day 2020, ending her nine-week pregnancy.

The 28-year-old lured the woman to his home in Letterkenny under the guise of discussing the pregnancy, then coerced her into taking five tablets while threatening her. Adelani, already serving a seven-year sentence for another offence, pleaded guilty before his trial began.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said, “I have forgiven the defendant. The forgiveness does not mean what he did was acceptable. He took far more than my freedom. He took my child.

He took my sense of safety. He took a future that I had already begun to plan and love.” Adelani, in a letter read in court, accepted responsibility and apologized for the harm caused.

Judge John Aylmer of Letterkenny Circuit Court sentenced Adelani to 11 years, with the final two years suspended, for unlawfully terminating the pregnancy. He also received a five-year sentence, with the last year suspended, for assault causing harm, with both sentences to run concurrently.